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Stourbridge face "make or break" trip to Macclesfield

NEIL Mitchell says Stourbridge’s trip to Macclesfield on Saturday is “make or break” for their season.

The Black Country side trail their hosts by three points in National Two North with just seven games remaining.

With last season’s last-second play-off defeat still an open wound for Stourbridge, Mitchell says defeat against their main title rivals would make life difficult if they are to seal promotion.

“It’s obviously a really big game for us – make or break,” said Mitchell.

“We targeted three games we had to win, Sedgeley Park, Macclesfield and Darlington (who are two points behind Stourbridge but with a game in hand) and this is stage two of that after beating Sedgeley Park.

“We have to get more than one point from this game if we are to stay in the race and I feel we are more than capable of a getting a result.

“The last three games we have scored 97 points and conceded only three, the last two being to nil against the teams fourth, fifth and seventh, and showed what we are about and there is a confidence within the team.

“This set of players is good enough to play at the next level and it’s at this point in our own hands.

“The play-off defeat is still in our minds and we don’t need much reminding about it.

“If we lose then we would have to rely on slip ups from the teams around us but we are away, so there is not the same mindset and it’s different this time around with us last season having won the first 18 on the bounce, then we lost to Bromsgrove and there was a chip our our armour.

“Now it’s the other way round. We will give every one of the seven games the same attention, although clearly the games with Darlington and Macclesfield carry extra importance“They play each other on the last day at Darlington, who still have to go to Birmingham and Solihull who have already beaten them so there is a lot to play for.” Blindside flanker Nigel Mukarati’s ankle injury sustained against Leicester may not be as serious as first thought and he may still make the starting line-up.

Meanwhile Mitchell has added Worcester Warriors senior academy players Andrew Boyce and George de Cothi to the squad for the remainder of the season.

Boyce represented England at U18 level and has made once senior appearance for Worcester.

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